Red, White & Mickey

Hi Dolls!

Okay..okay…okay, I saw this shirt on Amazon a while ago and knew I had to get. Is this not perfect for any Mickey lover for the 4th of July1?! And speaking of Disney, I happen to be a huge fan. Duh! And to continue my theme of celebrating Black Americans during the 4th of July, today I wanted to focus on Mr. Floyd Norman.

Now, not everyone knows who he is. I believe for most people you either have to be a Disnerd or a fan of animation for that name to ring a bell….but I could be wrong. If you weren’t aware, Floyd Norman was the first black animator to work for Disney. And as 85, he is still animating today. Floyd Norman was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1935. He found his love of cartoons by working as an assistant to a comic artist and actually seeing movies like Dumbo and Bambi. He started working at Disney as a in-betweener and animator for Sleeping Beauty. He has animated for Disney movies such as the Jungle Book, Mulan, Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. (one of my favorites). Now he hasn’t just worked for Disney all these years, he actually left the company after Walt Disney died and became working for another studio. However, over the course of his five decades career he would come back to Disney periodically. Due to his work, he has been recognized and received numerous awards. An in 2007, he was named a Disney Legend. If you would like to learn more about Floyd Norman, fortunately, there are many resources. There is even a Netflix documentary about him.

Thank you Mr. Floyd for paving the way for many black storytellers, animators and cartoonist! Happy 4th.